Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of These Terms

These terms form the agreement between Emerald Business Solutions Group Limited and each person who uses this website or engages the firm to provide estimating services. By using the website, by submitting a message through the contact page or by instructing the firm to prepare a piece of work, a person confirms that they have read these terms and agree to be bound by them. A person who does not agree should not use the website or engage the firm.

Where a client has signed a separate written agreement with the firm, that agreement takes priority over these terms to the extent of any inconsistency, and these terms continue to apply to everything the agreement does not cover. These terms do not confer any right on a third party and may be enforced only by the firm and by the client.

A person who uses the website on behalf of an organisation confirms that they have authority to bind that organisation to these terms. If that authority is not held, the person who uses the website is personally responsible for the obligations set out here.

2. Definitions

In these terms, the firm means Emerald Business Solutions Group Limited, whose address is Rm 402 4/F Lippo Centre Tower 2, 89 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong - 999077, Hong Kong (HK). The website means the pages published at https://www.builimited.autos together with any content, document or file made available through those pages. The client means the person or organisation that engages the firm to carry out an engagement. An engagement means a period of work agreed between the firm and the client, whether described as a tender estimate, a cost sheet run, a variation order desk, a subcontractor quote round, an escalation claim review, a final account sitting or any combination of these.

An estimate means a priced document prepared by the firm from documents supplied by the client, together with the assumptions and exclusions stated on its face. Documents means drawings, specifications, schedules of works, contracts, programmes, photographs and any other material supplied by the client or by a person acting for the client. A deliverable means the estimate, the cost sheet, the variation order, the quote round report, the claim file, the final account statement or any other document that the firm agrees to provide.

3. Scope of Our Services

The firm provides commercial estimating services for computer integrated systems and related technical work. The services are described in more detail on the services page of this website and include tender estimate bays, cost sheet runs, variation order desks, subcontractor quote rounds, escalation claim reviews and final account sittings. The firm provides advice, measurement and documentation; it does not carry out installation, commissioning, construction or design work unless a separate written agreement expressly says otherwise.

The firm may decline an engagement where the documents are insufficient, where the deadline cannot be met honestly, where a conflict of interest exists or where the work falls outside the experience of the practice. A decision to decline an engagement is not a statement about the merits of the project, and the firm is not obliged to give reasons for it.

Nothing on this website is an offer capable of acceptance. A description of a service is an invitation to discuss an engagement, and no contractual relationship arises until the firm confirms the engagement in writing.

4. How an Engagement Begins

An engagement begins when the firm sends a written confirmation that names the service, the scope of the documents to be reviewed, the fee or the basis of the fee, the expected delivery date and the reviewer responsible for the work. Until that confirmation is issued, no work is commenced and no fee is incurred. A message sent through the contact page is a request for a conversation and not an instruction to begin work.

The confirmation may take the form of an email or a short letter and may refer to a quotation. Where the client accepts the confirmation, the engagement starts on the date stated in it or, if no date is stated, on the date the client confirms acceptance. If the client supplies documents before acceptance, the firm will hold them in confidence but is not obliged to examine them until the engagement has begun.

If the client wishes to change the scope of an engagement after it has begun, the change is handled in accordance with the section on variations to work below.

5. Client Obligations

The client is responsible for supplying complete and accurate documents in good time, for naming a contact who can answer questions during the engagement and for telling the firm about any matter that may affect the estimate. The firm prices what it is given, and a document that is incomplete or out of date will produce an estimate that reflects those defects. The client should confirm that the documents supplied are the current issue and should mark the revision of each drawing where a revision mark exists.

The client is responsible for the accuracy of any information it supplies about quantities, prices, rates, programme dates and contractual terms. Where the client supplies a figure that the firm has not been able to verify, the estimate will identify the figure as client supplied. The firm is not responsible for a loss that results from a client supplied figure that turns out to be wrong, although the firm will work with the client to correct the record when the error is discovered.

The client must not use the services of the firm for an unlawful purpose, must not supply documents that it has no right to disclose and must not ask the firm to produce an estimate that is intended to mislead a third party. The firm may refuse any instruction that appears to breach this obligation.

6. Estimates and Their Purpose

An estimate is a professional opinion of the likely cost of work described in the documents, prepared at a point in time against the market as it stands. It is not a guarantee of the price that a supplier will charge, and it is not a warranty that the work can be carried out for the sum stated. Markets move, documents change and site conditions differ from the drawing. The firm sets out its assumptions and exclusions on the face of each estimate so that the client can see the limits of the opinion.

Every estimate is prepared for the named client and for the purpose stated in the engagement. A client who wishes to use an estimate for a different purpose, or to pass it to a third party, should ask the firm first. The firm may agree to a wider use in writing, but it will not be responsible for a use that was not agreed. An estimate is not a substitute for a contract, and a client who relies on it should ensure that the obligations and the risks of the project are dealt with in a separate agreement.

Where the firm prepares a final account statement, that statement is prepared from the records supplied and from the firm own working papers. It is a reconciliation and not an award, and it does not decide a dispute between the client and another party.

7. Fees and Payment

The fee for an engagement is stated in the written confirmation or, where the confirmation refers to a rate, is calculated from that rate and from the records of time and work kept by the firm. The fee covers the service described in the confirmation and does not cover a service that is not described there. Where a fee is quoted as a range, the firm will tell the client if the work is likely to exceed the upper figure before the limit is passed.

Invoices are issued in accordance with the confirmation. Unless the confirmation says otherwise, an invoice is payable within thirty days of the date of issue. The firm may charge interest on an overdue amount at a rate that is reasonable in the circumstances, and may suspend work while an invoice remains unpaid after a written reminder. A client who disputes an invoice should raise the dispute in writing within fourteen days of receipt, and the firm will review the matter before taking further steps.

Fees are exclusive of any tax, duty or charge that the law requires to be added. Where such a charge applies, it will be shown on the invoice. Expenses that are agreed in advance, such as the cost of obtaining a report or a courier fee, are charged at cost and are supported by a receipt.

8. Variations to Work

A variation to an engagement may be proposed by either party. The firm will confirm in writing the effect of the variation on the scope, the fee and the delivery date, and the variation takes effect when the client accepts that confirmation. Work on a variation does not begin before acceptance, unless the client instructs the firm in writing to proceed on the understanding that the fee will be agreed later.

Where a variation is urgent and the parties agree that work must start at once, the firm will record the scope of the variation and will price it as soon as it can. If the parties cannot agree the fee for a variation within a reasonable period, the firm may stop work on that variation and complete the rest of the engagement on the original terms. A variation that is not confirmed in writing does not change the original confirmation.

9. Confidentiality

Each party will keep confidential the information of the other that is not in the public domain and that is disclosed in connection with an engagement. The firm treats the documents and the working papers of an engagement as confidential to the client and restricts access to the reviewers assigned to the work. The client treats the methods, the working papers and the fee arrangements of the firm as confidential in the same way.

A party may disclose confidential information where the law requires it, where a regulator or a court orders it, or where disclosure is necessary to enforce the terms of the engagement. A party that is required to disclose information will, where it is lawful to do so, give the other party notice in advance. The obligation of confidentiality continues after the engagement ends and survives the termination of these terms.

The firm may refer to the fact that it has worked for a client only with the written agreement of that client. It will not publish a client name, a project name or a price without that agreement.

10. Intellectual Property

The documents supplied by the client remain the property of the client or of the party that owns them. The firm does not claim any right in those documents beyond the right to use them for the purpose of the engagement. The firm will return or delete the documents at the end of the engagement where the client asks it to, subject to the record keeping obligations described in the firm privacy policy.

The working papers, the methods and the templates of the firm remain the property of the firm. When an engagement ends and the fee has been paid, the firm grants the client a licence to use the deliverable for the purpose for which it was prepared. The licence does not permit the client to resell the deliverable, to publish it as its own work or to use it for a project other than the one for which it was prepared.

The content of this website, including its text and its design, belongs to the firm and may not be copied for a commercial purpose without written permission.

11. Third Party Information

An estimate may rely on a price, a lead time or a technical statement supplied by a third party, such as a supplier who has responded to a quote round. The firm takes reasonable steps to check that a third party statement is credible, but it does not warrant the accuracy of a statement that it has not itself produced. Where a third party statement turns out to be wrong, the firm will help the client to correct the record, but it is not responsible for the underlying error.

The firm is not responsible for the acts or omissions of a supplier, a contractor or a professional adviser engaged by the client. A recommendation made by the firm is a professional opinion, and the decision to award work remains with the client.

12. Limitation of Liability

The firm will carry out each engagement with the reasonable skill and care of a professional estimating practice. To the extent that the law permits, the firm is not liable for a loss that is not a foreseeable consequence of a breach of these terms, for a loss of profit, for a loss of business opportunity or for an indirect loss of any kind. The firm is not liable for a loss that results from a document that is incomplete, inaccurate or out of date when it was supplied.

To the extent that the law permits, the total liability of the firm in connection with an engagement is limited to the fee paid for that engagement, or to the fee that would have been paid if the engagement had been completed, whichever is higher. This limit does not apply to a liability that cannot be limited by law, such as a liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.

A client should tell the firm promptly about a matter that may lead to a claim, so that the firm has a fair opportunity to investigate it and to put it right. A claim that is raised long after the event may be more difficult to resolve for both parties.

13. Indemnity

The client will indemnify the firm against a loss, a claim or a cost that the firm incurs as a result of a document supplied by the client that infringes the rights of a third party, or as a result of a use of a deliverable that the client was not authorised to make. This indemnity does not apply where the loss is caused by the negligence of the firm or by a breach of these terms by the firm.

The firm will indemnify the client against a loss that results from a claim that the firm has infringed the intellectual property of a third party in the course of preparing a deliverable, provided that the client has used the deliverable for the purpose for which it was prepared.

14. Termination

Either party may end an engagement by giving written notice where the other party commits a material breach of these terms and does not remedy it within fourteen days of a written request. Either party may end an engagement at any time by giving reasonable written notice, in which case the client pays for the work carried out up to the date of termination and for any expense that has already been committed.

When an engagement ends, the firm will deliver the work that has been completed and paid for, will return or delete the client documents where the client asks it to, and will keep the working papers for the period described in its privacy policy. The provisions on confidentiality, intellectual property, limitation of liability and governing law survive the end of the engagement.

15. Events Beyond Control

Neither party is liable for a delay or a failure to perform that is caused by an event beyond its reasonable control, such as a natural disaster, a public health emergency, a failure of a public utility, an interruption of a transport or communication network, or an act of a government. A party affected by such an event will tell the other party promptly and will take reasonable steps to reduce the effect of the event.

Where such an event prevents an engagement from continuing for a prolonged period, either party may end the engagement by written notice. On such an end, the client pays for the work carried out up to that point and for any expense that has already been committed.

16. Governing Law and Disputes

These terms and any engagement to which they apply are governed by the laws of Hong Kong. The parties will first try to resolve a dispute by discussion in good faith, and a party who wishes to raise a dispute will set out the matter in writing and give the other party a reasonable period to respond. If the dispute is not resolved by discussion, either party may refer it to the courts of Hong Kong, which will have exclusive jurisdiction.

Nothing in this section prevents a party from asking a court for an urgent order to protect its rights, such as an order to prevent a disclosure of confidential information. A dispute about a fee may be referred to a mediator agreed by both parties before a court claim is issued, and the firm will consider such a reference in good faith.

17. Notices

A notice under these terms must be in writing and may be sent by email or by post. A notice to the firm should be sent to estimates@builimited.autos or to Rm 402 4/F Lippo Centre Tower 2, 89 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong - 999077, Hong Kong (HK). A notice to the client should be sent to the email address or the postal address that the client has supplied. A notice sent by email is treated as received on the next working day after it is sent, and a notice sent by post is treated as received on the third working day after it is posted.

18. Changes to These Terms

The firm may update these terms from time to time to reflect a change in the law, in its services or in its practices. The date at the top of the page shows when the current version took effect. A change applies to an engagement that begins after the change takes effect. An engagement that has already begun continues to be governed by the terms in force when it began, unless the parties agree otherwise in writing.

A reader who continues to use the website after a change takes effect is treated as having read the updated terms. The firm will keep earlier versions of these terms on file so that it can explain which version applied to a particular engagement.

19. Contact Details

Questions about these terms should be sent to Emerald Business Solutions Group Limited at Rm 402 4/F Lippo Centre Tower 2, 89 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong - 999077, Hong Kong (HK). The firm can be reached by email at estimates@builimited.autos and by telephone on +17018001092. The desk is staffed Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 18:00 Hong Kong time, and messages received outside those hours are read on the next working morning.

These terms are published alongside the privacy policy of the firm. A reader who has a question about personal data should consult that policy or write to the desk.